


I'll be there

by Get_below_my_line_of_vision



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Bisexual Marinette Dupain-Cheng, F/F, Light Angst, POV Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pining Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25169458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Get_below_my_line_of_vision/pseuds/Get_below_my_line_of_vision
Summary: Marinette pines for Kagami. In order to get rid of her constant thoughts of the girl, she dates around, never securing a relationship…She is painfully unaware that Kagami loves her back.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	I'll be there

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jiso_Lee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jiso_Lee/gifts).



> Message: Didn’t expect a gift, did you? Nor would you know me… You wrote [an awesome comment on one of my fics.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25100275)  
> I'm not quite sure what genre you like lmao so I hope you like my writing nonetheless :)

Marinette had been in love with Kagami for literal years. 

It all stemmed from when they first met. Chloé was nudging Marinette while waiting for the bus on a school trip. Their dynamic had always been this way, with Marinette defenceless. What else was she supposed to do? It wasn’t like she could just push her back. She was a Bourgeois kid. One unwanted touch and it was a dangerous ground.

While she was being poked at, Kagami silently watched her with earphones on. The foreign girl was always quiet and Marinette barely knew her. But calmly, Kagami beckoned her, even going as far to stand up from her seat and lead Marinette a couple of feet away by hand.

With Chloé crossing her arms and complaining, Kagami smiled as she made Marinette face her. It was at this moment Marinette realised how beautiful her eyes were- how soft her smile was, and how she wanted to devote everything to make her maintain her charming character.  
Then Kagami leaned in which made Marinette blushed but didn’t move. Instead, Kagami only leaned in to share her earphone with Marinette. “Oh, right, of course,” She blushed hard and she cooched closer to Kagami, telling herself it was because of the wire, not because she wanted to be closer to this girl.

“Um… Kagami?”  
“Yes, Marinette?” She said with a smile as she glanced over to her.  
“There’s nothing playing.”  
“Yeah, but they don’t know that. The trick is to pretend you’re not interested and soon Chloé would believe it too.”  
Not knowing what to say, Marinette giggled. Wanting it to go unnoticed, Marinette side stepped to be closer to her, their shoulders pressing against each other. She didn’t even know what she was doing but she liked the feeling of warmth Kagami gave out.

A year after that, they became close friends, practically inseparable. She wasn’t quite sure what Kagami considered their relationship. Friends? But would friends always stay over? It was, in fact, up to the point that Kagami’s household was her second home...

She was also overaware that Kagami’s mother disliked her. Every time they would speak, she would spit her name. Kagami always had to apologise afterwards, but Marinette believed no child should aplogise for their parent’s actions.

Either way, she had to sneak into her house and stay cooped up in Kagami’s room if she wanted to stay over in order to avoid a long, exaggerative scold from her mother.  
However one night Kagami was too tired, and Marinette needed to go to the toilet. She tried to whisper and nudge Kagami awake but it didn’t work.

Sighing, Marinette, in her pajamas, strolled outside her room. When she travelled downstairs, she heard a tap on the floor. At first she thought it was from the tap in the sink, but the lights turned on from behind her and she realised it was Kagami’s mother.  
“What are you doing here, Marinette?” Her voice was hoarse.  
“I am… uh, I am… I…” She scratched the back of her head- she couldn't think  
The mother huffed as she stood up, “Did you know that in Japanese culture, honour is the most valuable thing? That means we speak the truth, Marinette. We respect people. I was sure you knew this, but I can see this is not true.”  
“It is true! I respect you and your family. Especially Kagami!”  
“Then why are you here without my permission?”  
“Because Madam, this is also Kagami’s place. She wants me here.”  
“And I want you to leave.”  
“When Kagami wants me to leave, I’ll leave.”

Ms Tsurugi stepped closer to her, trying to intimidate Marinette, “Why are you so fixated on my daughter?”  
“Because I love her,” She bit her lip. “Uh, as a friend.”  
“Marinette,” She was sure to pronounce every letter to make her speech sharp, “I will only tell you this once, so hear it well. You will never date my daughter. You will never be with her. Do you understand?”  
Marinette cleared her throat, tears clotting her voice, “Yes, Ma’am.”  
“Good. I don’t ever want to see you alone here with her again.”  
Marinette nodded and rushed off.

In retrospect Ms Tsurugi was kinder than usual. She supposed there was some kind of sympathy there… One way or the other, Marinette was absolutely terrified to the bone. But her love for Kagami also would not be suffocated. So, to compromise, Marinette dated around. Was it selfish? Yes. Was she guilty? Yes. But was she so in love with Kagami she couldn’t stand being away from her? Painfully, yes.

It began with Nino. He was the one who confessed to her, and he was so flustered when doing so. Beside her, there was Kagami who watched on with a neutral face. Of course this wouldn’t bother her… It wasn’t as if she liked her back.  
So she said ‘yes’. ‘Yes’ to dating, ‘yes’ to lying, and ‘yes’ to trying to get over her best friend. 

The trouble was that Nino would only be invited whenever Marinette wanted to be with Kagami. After realising this pattern, Nino was quick to end it, depressingly asking her if he ever liked her.  
Marinette’s expressions dropped and all energy in her washed away as she gave a simple reply, “No.”

Nino was a good man. He didn’t pass on rumours or resent Marinette in any way. But he did give her an obvious advice: what she was doing was unhealthy and she should stop.

In tears, Marinette confided for reassurance from Alya. Through the midst of confusion and sadness, she kissed her. Although that was as far as they went. Alya promised her to make her feel accepted and safe and agreed to dating her. As far as the public saw were the two holding hands. Even when Kagami asked what their relationship was, Marinette found it too painful to admit the truth so Alya had to speak up in place of her.  
Kagami looked on in shock, but Marinette just assumed it was because she could tell their relationship was only surface-level.

As all things do their relationship disintegrated. Both parties knew it wasn’t going to work out. Alya gave her the same advice as Nino. Marinette just nodded, staring at the feet in misery.

All the dates and break-ups featured Kagami. But it wasn’t all because they realised how she felt about her best friend. When she dated Luka, who was a man who genuinely cared so much about her, Marinette felt their relationship could work. At times she would subconsciously think about him and smile, though it wasn’t as widely as how Kagami made her grin. But it was a start. Unfortunately it was forever going to be a start, nothing more. Their relationship failed to evolve after he became acquainted with Kagami and showed they had chemistry. It was the first time Kagami got along with any of Marinette’s partners. What’s more was that Kagami hardly ever got along with others, so when they showed they could end up as friends, jealousy overcame her.

At that specific moment, two clear roads opened up in front of her. She could be with Luka and slowly forget about Kagami. Or, she could run away with her best friend, perhaps never be loved back. And to those roads, there was a clear path to take. But love distorted her logic. As always.

Marinette left Luka.

It took a couple of days until Marinette realised how illogical her choice was. Finally, she revealed that they broke up and cried about it to Kagami as her best friend held her tight. For that night Marinette believed Kagami loved her back and that they had a future together ahead of them. They fell asleep together.

This was definitely not healthy for her, she knew that. But with Kagami in such close proximity, she didn’t know what to do. It was then she ran over to Alya’s home and begged for advice.  
“Hmm,” She tapped her chin, “Maybe you need to make sure you can’t talk to her.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Like, go on a holiday.”  
Marinette thought for a while. “To where?”  
“I don’t know, girl, maybe America? Canda? England?”  
“England sounds good… I’m sure Nino mentioned he had a friend over there. Maybe I could stay with him…. Wait, wouldn’t Kagami ask why I’m gone?”  
She scrunched her face while smiling, “I’ll tell her a lie, Mari, don’t worry. Hmm, let’s see, I’ll tie it into a work thing.”  
“So she wouldn’t be suspicious…” Marinette nodded.  
“Yeah, but that’s not your main focus.”  
“Then what is?”  
Alya lifted her eyebrow, “To get over her.”  
"Oh right, pshh, yeah, I knew that…”  
“Uh-huh…” She giggled.

Marinette was ecstatic to see how gleeful her friend was. “I’m sorry, Alya.”  
“Huh?”  
“For when we used to go out together.”  
She gave a small smirk as she reached out for her hand. “I wish you the best of luck.”  
Marinette gave a small smile back.

The hard part was not talking to Kagami for a long period of time. Whenever she received a call from Kagami she pretended she was busy so their conversations would never last long.  
After a week, there was an obvious filtering of Kagami’s calls- it seemed she also understood Marinette was trying to distance herself from her. Sweating, she wished Kagami never worked out the reason why. More than anything she wanted to keep being friends with her.

Sighing, she sat on Adrien’s couch. That was who she stayed with. Nino was kind enough to pass on his information to her as he pitied her situation as well.  
Adrien was a rich model who went to the same school as Nino. He was very attractive but Marinette didn’t put too much attention on him. The few weeks she was separated from Kagami was desolation for her.

It wasn’t until this day she felt like she could get over Kagami. It was when Adrien crept up to her and asked, “Isn’t it uncomfortable to sleep on the couch?”.  
“I think I'm fine, Adrien. Thanks for asking though.”  
He knelt down so they matched eyeline, “You can always sleep on my bed.”  
Marinette heavily blushed as she stammered, “Wha- what?”  
He gave out a light chuckle, “Don’t worry, I’ll sleep on the couch instead.”  
WIth a cushion in front of her face to hide her red cheeks, Marinette nodded.

However it was difficult to sleep since she felt guilty. The blanket was cold and the room was super dark. Marinette sighed as she pulled out her phone and saw a photo of Kagami. She let the brightness of the phone scorch her eyes so she wasn’t tempted to stare at her more.

It was really unfair. Why did she have to fall so deeply in love with her? Marinette wanted to cry, but thought Adrien might hear her. Adrien… Marinette sat up.

Rushing off so she didn’t have time to debate if this was a good idea, she travelled back into the living room, and softly called out for Adrien.  
“Hmm?” He sleepily called out.  
“Um… I feel guilty. You can sleep on the bed.”  
He sat up with his bed hair which made her giggle, “Mari, I think your kindness is eating you alive. I’m fine here. You don’t have to sleep on the couch.”  
Marinette nodded and shuffled around until she brought up the courage to speak again, “I don’t think you understand… You can sleep on the bed. And I don’t have to sleep on the couch either.”  
Adrien furrowed his eyebrows until his eyes widened. “Oh.” He then promptly stood up, suddenly very awake. “Okay.”  
“Ok.” Marinette echoed. “Great.” She smiled widely.

The weeks then felt like days as Marinette was slowly drifting away from her intrusive thoughts of Kagami. 

It was when she was at the peak of happiness with Adrien she proposed she return back to France. Adrien excitedly announced he wanted to meet Nino once more. So they both booked a ticket to France.

With adrenaline rushing through her veins, Marinette fumbled about on her phone until she texted Kagami she couldn’t wait to arrive.  
She almost immediately texted back she couldn’t wait as well.  
Mutually, they agreed to meet at the airport. Marinette didn’t mention Adrien.

When she arrived back, she looked around impatiently for her best friend while holding Adrien’s hand. “Who are you looking for, Mari?” He lovingly spoke.  
“She’s not here…” Marinette muttered.  
Kagami sent her a short text saying she couldn’t make it.  
Marinette desperately replied back. But there was no message on the other side. For all she knew, Kagami hadn’t read what she texted.

Anxiously she arrived back at her home. While Adrien drifted to sleep, Marinette couldn’t tear her eyes away from her phone. Kagami had to reply to her… She stared back at specific letters she sent to her. _’ily’_ it read. She had inserted it in the middle of her sentence subconsciously. She hoped Kagami would never notice…  
Marinette looked up and saw Adrien sleeping comfortably.  
She looked back at her phone. What did she actually want? How did she want Kagami to act?

In frustration and confusion Marinette exhaled loudly. She climbed onto her bed and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend.

She couldn’t sleep.


End file.
